PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A healthy LaMarcus Aldridge makes a world of difference for the Portland Trail Blazers.

Aldridge scored 28 points in his third game back from injury and the Trail Blazers extended their winning streak to three games with a 105-98 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday night.

"Whether he's scoring or not, just getting him touches has a big effect on the game, has a big effect on how the defense reads our offense," Blazers center Robin Lopez said of Aldridge.

Reserve Mo Williams added 17 points and Wesley Mathews had 15 for the Blazers, who avoided a three-game sweep in the season series.

"LA coming back has brought us back to what we do and how we do it," Williams said. "With LA, we know what we need to do and where we need to go, where we get our shots, and when to be aggressive."

Portland opened a two-game lead over Golden State for the fifth place in the Western Conference playoff race and pulled within 2½ games of No. 4 Houston with seven games remaining.

Zach Randolph scored 21 points and Marc Gasol had 20 for the Grizzlies, who lost back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 3-5 and dropped a half-game behind idle Dallas for the West's eighth and final playoff berth.

The Blazers shot 52.0 percent (39 of 75) and had five players score in double figures.

Aldridge, who missed seven games with a back contusion, was the catalyst on offense, making 10 of 20 shots from the field and going 8 for 8 at the free-throw line.

The Grizzlies were determined to play Aldridge straight up defensively and not double, as they had in their two wins over Portland. Memphis looked mostly to Randolph, their 6-foot-9, 260-pound power forward, to go toe-to-toe with the Blazers' All-Star.

"LaMarcus is their horse," Randolph said. "He's what makes them go, so anytime you've got your best player out there, it makes a difference."

Portland dominated the second quarter, making 10 of 16 shots (62.5 percent) and getting eight points from both Aldridge and Williams to extend a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter to a 57-45 halftime advantage.

"We knew exactly what they were going to run," Grizzlies guard Tony Allen said. "It was a great game plan defensively, and they executed."

Mathews and Aldridge combined for 13 points during a first quarter that had eight lead changes and six ties before Will Barton followed his own miss to score and give the Blazers a 25-23 lead.

The Grizzlies, making their third stop on a five-game swing, made 3 of 14 shots in the first six minutes of the second quarter and were outscored 16-6 as the Blazers extended the lead to 41-29 on two free throws by Aldridge with 5:59 left in the half.

"We matched Memphis' physicality," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "Our shooting lineup gave us some separation in the first half. We got a lot of good effort off the bench, too."